Another Ukrainian drone attack foiled by Kremlin forces. Russia announced early Tuesday, August 22 that it had shot down two Ukrainian drones in the Moscow region, where incidents of this type have increased in recent weeks.
“An attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out terrorist attacks using unmanned aerial vehicles was foiled” overnight Monday-Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Telegram. “Two drones were detected and destroyed by air defense systems over the territory of the Moscow region,” the same source said.
According to the mayor of the Russian capital, Sergei Sobyanin, who spoke on Telegram, a device was shot down in the Krasnogorsk area, located 20 kilometers northwest of the Kremlin, and a second in the Chastsy area, some 50 kilometers southwest of central Moscow. The competent services are on the scene, added the elected official.
Moscow’s Domodedovo, Cheremetyevo and Vnukovo international airports were closed to arrivals and departures, according to Russian state agency Tass, which later announced the resumption of landings at the first two locations.
Drone attacks inside Russian territory have been increasing for several weeks, most often without causing damage or casualties, and targeting in particular the Russian capital, located more than 500 kilometers from the border with Ukraine. On Monday, Russia claimed to have thwarted new Ukrainian drone attacks near Moscow and in the Kaluga region, which caused no casualties or damage.
At the end of July and the beginning of August, other devices had been destroyed above the business district of Moscow, in the west of the capital, causing slight damage to the facade of two towers. In May, two drones were shot down over the Kremlin and other drones hit apartment buildings in Moscow. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed in late July that “war is coming to Russian territory”.
Russia also claimed on Tuesday morning to have “destroyed” a Ukrainian army reconnaissance vessel in the Black Sea. “Last night, the crew of a Su-30cm (a combat aircraft, editor’s note) of the Naval Aviation of the Black Sea Fleet destroyed a reconnaissance vessel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the area of ????Russian installations gas production in the Black Sea,” the Russian Defense Ministry said on Telegram.
The ministry did not provide further details about this incident. On Thursday evening, ships of the Russian fleet were targeted by a Ukrainian attack carried out with a naval drone, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense. These vessels “performed navigation control tasks” in the Black Sea. The drone had been “destroyed by fire” from Russian naval vessels without hitting its target, according to Moscow.
Devices of this type have targeted Russian ships since Moscow refused in mid-July to renew a UN-brokered agreement that authorized Ukrainian grain exports.
